Zatta leads Crusaders to first OVAC title in 33 years
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CADIZ -- Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn’t. Monroe Central experienced both ends of the spectrum on Saturday.
The Seminoles cashed in five of eight bonus goals in rolling to a 25-13 lead after the first quarter, but the rim wasn’t as kind over the next three quarters as top-seeded Catholic Central stormed back for a 47-37 victory in the OVAC WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital Girls Basketball Championships Class 2A final inside Harrison Central High School.
After going 10-for-16 from the floor to open the game, Monroe Central (15-6) would only connect once on 22 attempts from beyond the arc in scoring just 12 points during the next 24 minutes, while the Crusaders would use a sterling effort from Player of the Game Katie Zatta and a near-perfect performance from the free throw line down the stretch in earning their first OVAC title since 1989.
“It’s been 33 years since we’ve won an OVAC girls basketball championship,” an elated Catholic Central (15-3) head coach Jess Looman said after her team was awarded the coveted trophy. “These girls were very determined to win this game. We didn’t practice Thursday so we went at it pretty hard yesterday (Friday). We told them win or lose, if they leave everything on the court, we can’t hang our heads when we’re walking off it
“I think that sat with them and even though we were the top seeds coming in, we felt like the underdog because Monroe has a pretty good tournament seed. We told them as long as they played a complete 32 minutes, that’s all I can ask for.”
Catholic Central might not have played a complete 32 minutes, but the final 24 were good enough as they enjoyed a 34-12 scoring advantage.
“We got good looks. We just didn’t make them and they did a nice job of not giving us many second-chance opportunities,” Monroe Central head coach Troy Baker said. “I told the girls after the game that I’ll live with the shots that we took. The shots just weren’t falling for us in the second, third and fourth quarters.”
Monroe Central, the No. 2 seed, finished an ice-cold 14-for-55 (25 percent) and a mere 6-for-30 (20 percent) from downtown.
Zatta kept the Crusaders close in the first quarter with 10 of her game-high 28 points. She added 11 in the second quarter when they made their move, and, after going scoreless in the third, had seven in the fourth, including a 5-of-6 effort from the free throw line where she was 13-of-15 for the game.
“Katie is Katie. She is a very decorated player,” Looman said. “She practices hard and is constantly in the gym working on her game. She was on fire in the first half and that allowed us to stay close.”
The game was tied twice, the last at 37-37 with five minutes left to play.
Theresa Kerker’s three-ball gave the champs the lead for good at 40-37. Zatta went 5-for-6 at the line in the final moments, while Ellen Rohde tickled the twine twice.
Rohde finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Clara Symington grabbed a team-best eight boards and Kerker seven markers.
The Seminoles were led by Haylyn Hiles with 14 points. Kynzi Bishop added 11 and Kalista Friday had eight points and a like number of rebounds before fouling out with 2:12 remaining. Bishop also had eight caroms.
“Defensively, we didn’t play with the intensity that I thought we should have regardless of what the score is. You can’t do that and win championships,” Baker stressed. “We also fouled them too much and bailed them out a couple of times on shots I didn’t think were going to go in anyways, and then they step to the (foul) line and make them (free throws).
“The Zatta girl is a good player. She hustles and gets after it,” Baker noted.
OVAC WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital
Girls Basketball Championships
(at Harrison Central H.S.)
Class 2A
Steubenville Catholic 47, Monroe Central 37
MC 25 3 4 5 — 37
SCC 13 13 7 14 — 47
MONROE CENTRAL (37) — Friday 3 0-0 8; H. Hiles 5 0-0 14; Morris 0 1-2 1; Bishop 5 1-2 11; Thompson 0 0-0 0; Bettinger 1 1-2 3; Haslam 0 0-0 0; Totals: 14-55 3-6 37. STEUBENVILLE CATHOLIC (47) — Zatta 6 13-15 28; Symington 0 3-8 3; Rohde 3 3-3 9; Kerker 2 2-2 7; OáKarma 0 0-1 0; Arai 0 0-0 0; Totals: 11-35 21-29 47
3-pt goals: MC — Friday (2); H. Hiles (4); SCC — Zatta (3), Kerker